Saturday, October 16, 2010

I've recently posted a massive load of pics on Facebook to showcase Dave's visit to the island!! What I didn't post on FB were these, some shots from the last night Dave was around. The family gathered while we fired up the BBQ and held a chill session. On the menu: Dave's Own Recipe Quinoa Salad (w/ roasted almond bits, corn, French green beans, cranberries, all organic of course...), Broccoli Potato Soup (made with our new top-o-the-line BlendTech from my parents!!!), Stephanie Marinated Chicken, and a healthy variety of mouth watering Sausages.

From the moment she met Dave last year, Teya has really taken to him. I think she thinks he's really a cool guy! Its cute to see the way he interacts with her and how much she loves to love on him:) She was giving him hugs, kisses, and her special attention all night.

We got on the subject of America's National Anthem, and how confused so many of us were at the words, but Stephanie takes the cake with her rendition of the score!! She had almost every line tweaked and twisted, with some invented words and phrases, we were throughly entertained as she sang! Steph, you'll have to leave in the comments some of your "phrases"....

What I didn't catch on film were the tunes sung by Aaron and Rachel. Aaron writes his own music and produces a few music videos to accompany them, he's got a wonderfully soothing indie-folk type voice and style. Even more entrancing was Rachel's solo... after a bit of persuasion she agreed to bless us with her AMAZING voice while playing the guitar. There wasn't a sound the whole while she sang, even the geckos stopped chirping, because we were all so enchanted by the soothing tones and melancholy feel to her words!! I would buy her CD, easy!

I really like this shot of Phil, I have to sneak pictures of him if I want a real natural smile... he's like my dad, The Ken, when it comes to cameras and forgetting completely how to smile with those perfect teeth and cute dimples!!

At this point I gave Teya the camera and she took over as our photographer. She went up to each person and got uncomfortably close... sometimes just a few inches from the face... and snapped a portrait of everybody. The only person I don't have from Teya's time behind the lens is Aaron, I think she was still too intimidated by him to get that close:)

She was totally being artistic here going for an abstract take on the typical face portrait.

"Oh say can you see, by the dawn's early light, by the ramparts we see, o'r the rampart's last gleaming. Whose bright stripes and broad stars, through the perilous times, gave proof to the night, that the flag was still there."

Pretty close--but i think it;s 'what so proudly we hailed in the twilights last gleaming.....then part of your next lines comes--I think--who knows? I AM a Brit,after all!!I wonder how many Americans can sing O Canada,in French as well as English????

The Latest with the Catudals-

Here we are:this is what we're doing, trying, searching, exploring, and enjoying.

Phil's back in school and we're in Oregon now! Oh Laie, how we miss you and wished we could never leave you... unless it's for France, New Zealand, Paraguay, Puerto Rico, Switzerland... okay so I guess there's still a lot out there to see and do! Phil is attending MBA school now at Willamette, and at the same time has started a business (found at getzonedup.com). Teya is mastering the 1st grade and braggilitiously at the top of her class even though she's an entire year younger than her peers. Eden owns the family with her cute face and her sweet French (with funny "Franglish" phrases once and a while.)

As for the Chubby Panda, aka Me, I'm raising the girls because they're only young and cute once. Someday when they're no longer young or cute, I'll become a recluse taking obscene amounts of time to paint and create again.

( I do, however, spend of bit of my energy over on coconutsandcardamom.com)